Funded by Germany and Japan, and hosted by the Public Waste Agency for Flanders, this meeting focuses on pilot projects and on guidance manuals on prevention, extended producer responsibility, and financing.

Now online: pre-session documents, including budget documents for consideration by the COPs

Find out more about the work of the Basel and Stockholm Regional centre in Pretoria, South Africa.

Focus on regional implementation switches to Africa

South Africa was selected as a site to establish Basel Convention Regional Centre for English-speaking countries in Africa in 1997. Africa Institute for the Environmentally Sound Management of Hazardous and other wastes, the Africa Institute in short, was established for this purpose as an inter-governmental organization in March 2004 through an agreement between member states. Botswana, Lesotho, Mauritius, Namibia, Nigeria, Tanzania, South Africa and Zambia have ratified the agreement as of today. The BCRC South Africa was formally established through a framework agreement that was signed between the Africa Institute and the Secretariat of the Basel Convention in 2012.

The same centre was nominated also to serve as Stockholm Convention regional centre in July 2010 for English speaking African Parties and has been endorsed since 2011 as the Regional Centre for Capacity-building and the transfer of technology by the Conference of the Parties of the Stockholm Convention.

In keeping with the synergy decision that was taken by the Parties to the Basel, Stockholm and Rotterdam conventions, the Africa Institute also serves within the region to address the Rotterdam convention capacity-building initiatives as well. The Institute positions itself as a suitable vehicle that the countries in the region will use to also implement the Mercury treaty once it is finalized. Since the New Inception of the Institute (2009), a number of partnerships have been forged successfully and cooperation started working with:

Government of Denmark

Government of Sweden, through The Swedish Chemical Agency(KemI)

Government of Finland, through MFA and with Finnish Environment Authority (SYKE)

Relevant United Nations Agencies, such as UNEP, UNIDO, UNITAR

These Institutions provide much needed financial and technical support to the Institute, and allowed it to mount the critical skills, through current professional staff of the Institute. It was through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland that three professional staff members were employed; these are highly qualified personnel with Masters and Ph.D. qualifications in Chemistry, Environmental Management and Ecology. The Institute has implemented and executed a range of projects in most of the member countries, including the following:

Program and Institutional Support for Establishment and Operation of the Africa Institute for Environmentally Sound Management of Hazardous and Other Wastes

Management of Chemicals in English Speaking Africa Countries

Ports Management – “Probo Koala” Project

Capacity Strengthening and Technical Assistance for the Implementation of Stockholm Convention National Implementation Plans (NIPs) in African Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Islands Developing States (SIDS).

Tackling the legacy of an estimated half of the world’s stockpile of obsolete pesticides requires capacity-building for risk reduction and sustainable management.

Rotterdam Convention works with parties, EU and NGOs to reduce pesticide risk in eastern Europe and central Asia

Tackling pesticide risks in former Soviet Republics

Rome, November 2016 – In countries across the former Soviet Union, the use of harmful pesticides and the prevalence of obsolete toxic chemicals present significant problems for populations and ecosystems.

An EU/FAO co-funded project, between the Rotterdam Convention (RC), PAN UK and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in six countries has been working to raise awareness in affected areas, with the aim of promoting safer practices. A second target is to bolster national government decision-making processes to reduce the risks among those groups deemed most vulnerable – such as farmers, children, women and seasonal workers.

“The dissolution of the Soviet Union has created particular opportunities and challenges for these countries over the last 25 years. One of these is the legacy of large quantities of obsolete stocks; it is estimated that around half the world’s obsolete pesticides are in the former Soviet Union,” said Sheila Willis, Head of International Programmes at the UK’s Pesticide Action Network (PAN UK).

“It is also very important that the management of pesticides is strengthened in these countries, as elsewhere, and risks are reduced from the pesticides that are in use today,” she added.

Independent studies demonstrate the economic, environmental and social benefits of sound chemical management

A 2015 study published by FAO, PAN UK and partners showed that farming communities in Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, and Ukraine have all reported incidents of acute pesticide poisoning with symptoms ranging from headaches, nausea and rashes through to convulsions, loss of consciousness and even death.

In Kyrgyzstan, a pilot survey of farming families in the Chui, Jalal, Abad and Osh regions, revealed that up to 56 percent of women and more than 25 percent of children under 18 interviewed described using pesticides in their work.

“While the problem of poisoning of farmers, women and children with pesticides is very urgent, no one is interested,” said Dr. Arslanbop, a doctor working in rural Kyrgyzstan.

Both in Kyrgyzstan and Ukraine, more than half of the adults consulted had experienced symptoms of acute pesticide poisoning.The vast majority of those individuals, however, did not consult their national health services or authorities.

In Moldova, the study focused on teenage children from farming families. Almost 40 percent of these young people said they had used pesticides.

Reducing pesticide exposure in children and pregnant women is an important part of the FAO-PAN-UK partnership.

The report found that women in each country surveyed, often encountered dangerous chemicals while working in agriculture and, also, while carrying out domestic chores such as washing contaminated clothes by hand. Most do not know how dangerous this is.

“Think about the moment a rural farmer identifies a pest destroying their crops, their harvest, or their only source of money. Their immediate reaction is that a pesticide is their best friend,” said Elisabetta Tagliati, FAO Programme Officer for the Rotterdam Convention.

While the reliance on pesticides in an ongoing problem, there are often safer options and methods of reducing the risks of using them.

Protecting vulnerable groups and preventing environmental degradation

Other common practices presenting dangers included not wearing protective equipment when handling pesticides, using food and drink containers for pesticide storage purposes and failing to dispose of chemicals in a safe manner. The burning or discarding of pesticide packaging in fields threatens human health and the environment.

Another challenge is that agricultural workers often have poor employment security and little legal protection. They may also lack the relevant language skills to understand pesticide labels and safety instructions. In Georgia, of the Azeri speakers interviewed in the survey, just one percent were able to read the pesticide labels in Georgian.

The ex-Soviet bloc makes a substantial contribution to global agricultural output; up to 20 percent of global wheat production comes from these countries. Despite important progress, much remains to be done to ensure future generations in rural areas can prosper.

The findings of the studies are helping that push for change by informing the debate among decision-makers, national NGOs and the public. As a result, in Kyrgyzstan, parliamentarians visited affected rural communities to discuss the issues with farming families.

In Georgia, an additional study with a focus on vulnerable women, concluded this year. Authorities responded to its findings by tightening legislation on the packing and labelling of pesticide products. They also reported a number of serious incidents involving acutely toxic pesticides that in future may fall under article 6 of the Rotterdam Convention.

Strengthening data collection on the use of pesticides and related poisoning incidents at field level helps to inform decision-makers, such as pesticide registrars, enabling them to manage resources more effectively.

FAO’s future targets for the region include developing a series of national and regional initiatives to promote a more sustainable approach to food production and to increase the uptake of schemes including Integrated Pest Management (IPM), which emphasises sustainable management of pests and diseases.

Download the report of "Supporting evidence-based pesticide regulation and risk reduction in Georgia, with a focus on vulnerable groups".

Sustainability begins at home for BRS and its housekeeping

E-waste and the forthcoming Triple COPs were the subject of discussions at the WTO Committee on Trade & Environment, on 14-15 November 2016, in Geneva.

BRS briefs World Trade Organisation on hazardous chemicals and wastes

On 14-15 November 2016, on the occasion of the regular session of the Committee on Trade & Environment (CTE) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) - i.e. the ‘CTE regular’ - now chaired by the Ambassador of Chile to the World Trade Organization, his excellency Mr. Héctor Casanueva, WTO members and observers discussed and focused more particularly on importance issues related to the relationship between Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) and the WTO Agreements.

Several Secretariats of MEAs were represented and offered briefings on recent and forthcoming meetings of their respective Conferences of the Parties (COPs), as well as presentations on technical matters. Among these MEAs, one may highlight: the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm (BRS) Conventions on hazardous chemicals and wastes.

The Executive Secretary of the BRS Conventions, Dr. Rolph Payet, opened the morning session of 15 November, with some introductory remarks on the mutual supportiveness of trade and environment, as formally recognized in the provisions of the BRS Conventions – e.g. the preambles of the Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions. He then briefed on the outcomes of the 2015 meetings of the BRS Conventions COPs, followed by a briefing on the joint and specific issues at stake at the forthcoming meetings of the COPs, including the High Level Segment, to be held back-to-back from 24 April until 5 May 2017 in Geneva. Then Mr. Matthias Kern, Senior Programme Officer, offered a presentation on e-Wastes, as there was a strong request by WTO membership on this particular topic. The presentations were followed by some questions and comments by delegations, among other things, on the listing of chemicals, intersessional work and compliance.

With respect to the matters covered by the BRS Conventions, some countries then shared their national experiences, including on their implementing institutional, legal and policy frameworks and other measures: Chile provided an overview on the recently adopted framework law for waste management, extended producer responsibility and promotion of recycling; Canada made a presentation on their approach to chemical management. Also, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) presented its work on e-waste management.

For more information on the above, please consult the BRS Conventions’ websites, and on the WTO Trade & Environment cluster as well as the CTE, consult: